Downers Grove to plant 375 trees in 2013

Some will be planted in new locations while the majority will replace dead trees

December 20, 2012|By Dawn Rhodes, Chicago Tribune reporter

Hundreds of new trees will be planted throughout Downers Grove in 2013.

The village council has agreed to continue participating in the Suburban Tree Consortium, which helps suburban communities purchase and plant trees through partnerships with local nurseries. The village has partnered with the consortium for more than 25 years.

Downers Grove plans to buy and plant 375 trees at a cost of $120,000. Some will be planted in new locations while the majority will replace dead trees and those ruined by storms and disease, officials said.

Fifty-one trees scheduled to be planted in the spring will replace ash trees that were removed because of Emerald Ash Borer infestation. Several suburban communities this year had to increase efforts to protect trees from the beetle that feeds on the inner bark of ash trees.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture identified trees with EAB in dozens of communities over the past few years, including in Downers Grove near Warren and Woodward avenues. Hundreds of trees throughout the south, west and north suburbs have had to be removed.

Downers Grove officials said the village did not lose as many trees to EAB as originally anticipated. Since 2008, various contractors have treated the soil and trunks of ash trees with insecticide to ward off infestation.

"We're trying to keep up with what Mother Nature may do to us and what disease might do to us," said Commissioner Bob Barnett. "Since 1989, we've planted about 9,000 trees. It's a continuation of a solid commitment the whole village has to trees."

The village had more than 23,000 trees as of May, a number that has stayed relatively stable since the early 1990s, with most on open parkways. Maple, ash and honeylocust comprise more than half the inventory, according to the public works department.

The village council also approved three-year contracts with a DeKalb-based company for ongoing tree maintenance, to a $303,000 contract for pruning and a $347,000 contract for tree and stump removal with D. Ryan Tree & Landscape, LLC. The council agreed to extend the contract for a year with Emerald Tree Care, LLC in White Lake, Mich., to continue treating ash trees with insecticide.